Fuel Grade

[yellowkat]

I was just wondering what grade of gas you guys put or should put in your Kats and what seems to make it run at its best...

[zerocool61]

Only the top grade here!!! I found that 76 brand is one of the best.

[300]

87

[CorpZ]

I use 87 octane and my bike runs fine, thats the octane you're supposed to use(assuming Canada grades theie gas the same as the US).

[yellowkat]

so if i use 94 will it make my kat run better.. or gimme any other benefits? or just a waste of money??

[2K5GSX600F]

The only time it is neccessary to use higher octane is if you are getting alot of knocking or pinging. I have a friend that is a senior executive for Texaco and he has told me this.

[WildKat]

and if u r getting alot of knockin and pinging, u should have ur motor checked out anyways. I run minimum 89 octane.

[yellowkat]

when i down shift to first i get a different pinging sound that i dont get when im in other gears.. is this normal? its a brand new bike..

[300]

kats are designed for 87

benefits from higher octane is only because something's wrong with your kat

[meanstrk]

I am sure that if you do a search on this you will find the answer, but the bottom line is this:

All you need to run is 87 octane. The Katana does NOT require higher octane fuel and it's a waste of money. 87 will provide you more HP and better fuel economy. High octane is designed to provide a slower burn in order to prevent detonation and in a lower compression engine it will not burn completely, resulting in less HP. A more efficient burn will also leave less deposits in the engine.

You guys can pay more if you want, but there is absolutely no need to do so with these bikes. This is fact, not just guess work. Bottom line is that if the motor is not experiencing detonation, then you don't need higher octane fuel.

[duff daddy]

108, 110 and smells sooooooooooo good

[yellowkat]

ok cool.. thanks guys.. so is that pinging noise n first gear normal?

[harrye]

Yellowkat, you said when you downshift into 1st you get a different pinging sound that you don't get in the other gears. What are you doing when you get this sound? Slowing down, going at a steady speed , or accelerating gradually or hard?

You get a different pinging sound in the other gears?

First gear may have a different gear "whine" than the other gears, but thats from the transmission, not the combustion chambers. What rpm are you at (in first gear, and in the other gears) when this pinging occurs?

I think that if you had real pinging, it would happen in every gear when you tried to accelerate. And it would get worse as you open the throttle more. You'd know you have a real problem.

Try switching to a higher octane gas for one tank full.

[The CyberPoet]

You can find all your answers in this thread:

KR: What Octane Fuel do You use?

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[yellowkat]

its just when im slowing down and when i down shift into first.... yea its not so much a pinging but i guess a different whining sound from the rest of the gears... only happens in first.. is this normal?